Abstract
To better inform and improve classroom teaching and learning, now more than ever before, educational researchers need to effectively and efficiently describe essential components of positive learning environments. In this article, we discuss how our research findings about motivation in classrooms have led to a closer examination of emotions. We describe how motivation theories such as Academic Risk Taking, Flow Theory, and Goal Theory have helped us better understand emotions in our classroom research. Our findings suggest that engaging students in learning requires consistently positive emotional experiences, which contribute to a classroom climate that forms the foundation for teacher–student relationships and interactions necessary for motivation to learn. We conclude that we need to integrate emotion, motivation, and cognition theoretically and methodologically to move our research forward. New theories and methods, even new forms of intellectual discourse, are required. Therefore, we end this article by beginning a discussion of new directions for conceptualizing and researching classrooms in ways that will involve examining the emotions of students and teachers.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The ideas in this paragraph represent an innovative cognitive view of emotion, cognition, and motivation as expressed in an interview with Michael Wapner published in Baars (1986).
“Thin-slicing” is a term used in the sciences to describe a cross-sectional sampling method. Gladwell (2005) has popularly defined it as “the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behaviors based on a very narrow slice of experience” (p. 23). We use the term to denote a researcher’s ability to determine the most significant constructs within a complex context for understanding and predicting human perceptions and behaviors.
References
Ames, C. (1992). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 261–271.
Anderman, L. H., & Anderman, E. M. (Eds.) (2000). The role of social context in educational psychology: Substantive and methodological issues. Educational Psychologist (Special edition).
Baars, B. J. (1986). The cognitive revolution in psychology. New York: Guilford.
Boekaerts, M. (1993). Being concerned with well-being and with learning. Educational Psychologist, 28, 149–167.
Boekaerts, M. (2001). Context sensitivity: Activated motivational beliefs, current concerns and emotional arousal. In S. Volet & S. Jarvela (Eds.), Motivation in learning contexts: Theoretical advances and methodological implications (pp. 17–31). Amsterdam: Pergamon.
Boler, M. (1999). Feeling Power: Emotions and Education. New York: Routledge.
Brophy, J. (1999). Research on motivation in education: Past, present, and future. In T. C. Urdan (Ed.), Advances in motivation and achievement: The role of context, vol. 11, (pp. 1–44). Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI.
Clifford, M. M. (1984). Thoughts on a theory of constructive failure. Educational Psychologist, 19, 108–120.
Clifford, M. M. (1988). Failure tolerance and academic risk-taking in ten- to twelve-year-old students. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 58, 15–27.
Clifford, M. M. (1991). Risk taking: Theoretical, empirical, and educational considerations. Educational Psychologist, 26, 263–298.
Corno, L. (1989). Self-regulated learning: A volitional analysis. In B. J. Zimmerman & D. H. Schunk (Eds.), Self-regulated learning and academic achievement (pp. 111–141). Berlin Heidelberg New York: Springer.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond freedom and anxiety. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Csikszentmihalyi, I. S. (1988). Optimal experience: Psychological studies of flow in consciousness. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Nakamura, J. (1989). The dynamics of intrinsic motivation. In R. Ames & C. Ames (Eds.), Handbook of motivation theory and research, vol. 3, (pp. 45–71). New York: Academic.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., Rathunde, K., & Whalen, S. (1993). Talented teenagers: The roots of success and failure. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Damasio, A. R. (1994). Decartes’ error: Emotion, reason, and the human brain. New York: Avon Books.
Dweck, C. S., & Legget, E. L. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review, 95, 256–273.
Eckman, P. (1993). Facial expression and emotion. American Psychologist, 48, 384–392.
Fenstermacher, G. D., & Richardson, V. (2005). On making determinations of quality in teaching. Teachers College Record, 107, 186–213.
Ford, M. E. (1992). Motivating humans: Goals, emotions, and personal agency beliefs. Newbury Park, California: Sage.
Frijda, N. H. (1988). The laws of emotion. American Psychologist, 43, 349–358.
Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink: The power of thinking without thinking. New York: Little, Brown.
Graham, S. (1991). A review of attribution theory in achievement contexts. Educational Psychology Review, 3, 5–39.
Kuhl, J., & Kraska, K. (1989). Self-regulation and meta-motivation: Computational mechanisms, development, and assessment. In R. Kanfer, P. Ackerman, & R. Cudek (Eds.), Abilities, motivation, and methodology (pp. 343–368). Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum.
Lazarus, R. S. (1991a). Cognition and motivation in emotion. American Psychologist, 46, 352–356.
Lazarus, R. S. (1991b). Progress on a cognitive–motivational–relational theory of emotion. American Psychologist, 46, 819–834.
Linnenbrink, E. A., & Pintrich, P. R. (2002). Achievement goal theory and affect: An asymmetrical bidirectional model. Educational Psychologist, 37, 69–78.
Meyer, D. K., & Turner, J. C. (2002). Discovering emotion in classroom motivation research. Educational Psychologist, 37, 107–114.
Meyer, D. K., & Turner, J. C. (2006). Scaffolding emotions in classrooms. In P. A. Schultz and R. Pekrun (Eds.), Emotions in Education. Academic Press/Elsevier (in press).
Meyer, D. K., Turner, J. C., & Spencer, C. A. (1997). Challenge in a mathematics classroom: Students’ motivation and strategies in project-based learning. Elementary School Journal, 97, 501–521.
Midgley, C., & Maehr, M. (1991). Patterns of Adaptive Learning Survey. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan.
Ortony, A., & Turner, T. J. (1990). What’s basic about basic emotions? Psychological Review, 97, 315–331.
Patrick, H., Anderman, L. H., Ryan, A. M., Edelin, K., & Midgley, C. (2001). Teachers’ communication of goal orientations in four fifth-grade classrooms. Elementary School Journal, 102, 35–58.
Patrick, J., Turner, J. C., Meyer, D. K., & Midgley, C. (2003). How teachers establish psychological environments during the first days of school: Associations with avoidance in mathematics. Teachers College Record, 105, 1521–1558.
Pintrich, P. R., & Schunk, D. H. (2002). Motivation in education: Theory, research, and applications (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Merrill.
Rosenberg, E. L. (1998). Levels of analysis and the organization of affect. Review of General Psychology, 2, 247–270.
Schutz, P. A., & Lanehart, S. L. (2002). Introduction: Emotions in education. Educational Psychologist, 37, 67–68.
Skinner, E. A., & Belmont, M. J. (1993). Motivation in the classroom: Reciprocal effects of teacher behavior and student engagement across the school year. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 571–581.
Stipek, D., Salmon, J. M., Givvin, K. B., Kazemi, E., Saxe, G., & MacGyvers, V. L. (1998). The value (and convergence) of practices suggested by motivation research and promoted by mathematics education reformers. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 29, 465–488.
Tashakkori, A., & Teddlie, C. (1998). Applied social research methods series: Mixed methodology: Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches vol. 46, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Turner, J. C., & Patrick, H. (2004). Motivational influences on student participation in classroom learning activities. Teachers College Record, 106, 1759–1785.
Turner, J. C., Meyer, D. K., Cox, K. C., Logan, C., DiCintio, M., & Thomas, C. T. (1998a). Creating contexts for involvement in mathematics. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 730–745.
Turner, J. C., Thorpe, P., & Meyer, D. K. (1998b). Students’ reports of motivation and negative affect: A theoretical and empirical analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 758–771.
Turner, J. C., Midgley, C., Meyer, D. K., Gheen, M., Anderman, E. M., Kang, Y., et al. (2002). The classroom environment and students’ reports of avoidance strategies in mathematics: A multimethod study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 88–106.
Turner, J. C., Meyer, D. K., Midgley, C., & Patrick, H. (2003). Teacher discourse and students’ affect and achievement-related behaviors in two high mastery/high performance classrooms. Elementary School Journal, 103, 357–382.
Urdan, T. (1999) Advances in motivation and achievement: Motivation in context Vol. 11, Stamford, Connecticut: JAI.
Urdan, T., Kneisel, L., & Mason, V. (1999). The effect of particular instructional practices on student motivation: An exploration of teachers’ and students’ perceptions. In T. Urdan (Ed.), Advances in motivation and achievement, Volume 11: Motivation in context (pp. 123–158). Stamford, Connecticut: JAI.
Vermunt, J. D., & Verloop, N. (1999). Congruence and friction between learning and teaching. Learning and Instruction, 9, 257–280.
Weiner, B. (1986). An attributional theory of motivation and emotion. Berlin Heidelberg New York: Springer.
Weiner, B. (1992). Human motivation: Metaphors, theories, and research. Newbury Park, California: Sage
Wentzel, K. R. (1997). Student motivation in middle school: The role of perceived pedagogical caring. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 411–419.
Zembylas, M. (2003). Interrogating teacher identity: Emotion, resistance, and self-formation. Educational Theory, 53, 107–127.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Lisa Linnenbrink, Susan Nolan, and two anonymous reviewers for their suggestions and feedback on the revision of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
An earlier version of this article was originally presented in E. A. Linnenbrink (Chair) Reflections on Emotion Research: The Theoretical Integration of Affect, Motivation, and Cognition. Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, April 2005, Montreal.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Meyer, D.K., Turner, J.C. Re-conceptualizing Emotion and Motivation to Learn in Classroom Contexts. Educ Psychol Rev 18, 377–390 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-006-9032-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-006-9032-1